GENESIS 26
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing withRebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” – Genesis 26:6-11
GENESIS 26 SINS OF THE FATHER REPEATED
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
When Isaac settled in Gerar to follow God’s instruction
He knew he was amongst pagan country and had apprehensions
Like his mother Sarah, Rebekah was also very beautiful
Isaac feared for his life knowing that the king would want Rebekah
He repeated his own father’s sin by lying that she was a sister
He too, like Abraham, was rebuked by a pagan ruler.
This clearly a repeat of Abraham’s pattern of lying. It was almost the same plot, same lie and same outcome. It was also in Gerar that Abraham journeyed in Genesis 20 and lied to Abimelech. Abimelech is not a name, it is a title given to the king of Gerar. Even though we know that Abraham and Isaac were righteous men of the covenant promise, they were not excused from being sinful. It just goes to show that the iniquities of our fathers can easily be passed on to the next generation either consciously or unconsciously. In Numbers 14:18, we hear how the sins can visit the iniquity of the fathers to the children to the third and fourth generation. This is the reality that we face each day. We live in a world plagued by sin. Our flesh will always have its way in our lives. That is why we need to constantly abide in the Lord so we can have an outpouring of God’s grace and mercy and live in the Spirit rather than in the flesh.
REFLECTION
- What iniquities of your ancestors were passed on to you and your family?
